Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nanofillers in bamboo/glass hybrid composites and their effect on tensile, flexural and impact properties

Abstract

Various research works have recently reported that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are being widely used as the reinforcement nanofillers in polymer nanocomposites. The outcome from the previous literature has stated that CNTs are enhancing the mechanical properties, but the effects of incorporating CNTs into hybrid composites consisting of natural fibre are not well explained. This study has explored the effects of using multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) material as a nanofiller on the tensile, flexural and low velocity impact (LVI) properties of bamboo/glass hybrid composites. Composites containing 0.5 wt.% CNTs were compared with the control hybrid composites without CNTs. LVI tests (drop weight) were performed with various energy levels ranging from 7J to 35J. The experimental results revealed an increment of 7.73% in the tensile strength of CNT filled composites compared to the control unfilled hybrid composites. However, a remarkable decrease of the flexural properties was recorded for the CNT filled composites, with these being 49.37% lower than the control. Moreover, analysis from the LVI testing showed that the incorporation of CNTs into hybrid composites gave a significant improvement in the impact resistance capabilities of the composites which was 9.21% higher than the control. Taken as a whole, the tensile and impact properties increased as the CNTs were integrated into the hybrid composites, but a decrement was detected in the flexural properties.